


Dead Hearts

by katbutts, nightmareStag, wolfpoots



Category: Friends Till Death
Genre: Abusive Relationships, M/M, Multi, Please don't judge me, Self-Harm, im probably gonna change the warnings and stuff, we're not that far into the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:53:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katbutts/pseuds/katbutts, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightmareStag/pseuds/nightmareStag, https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfpoots/pseuds/wolfpoots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jura is stuck in an abusive relationship. When Herz, his next door neighbor, finally opens up to the world after three months, he finds himself somewhat cheating on his current boyfriend. However, when Jura's boyfriend, Swen, tries to hurt Jura, Herz exposes his secrets to the world. Will life ever be the same for Jura and Herz? Or will they distance themselves from each other in order to avoid getting hurt?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Boy Next Door

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, bad summary and bad start. Hope you guys enjoy!

The morning dew was setting over the freshly cut fields of the apartment complex Herz lived in. The tall young man brushed lazily at his eyes as he waited for his tea to brew. He grabbed the worn out copy of House of Leaves and was preparing to start his lazy sunday morning. He prepared his cup in the usual way- a bit of cream and an absurd amount of sugar. Herz gingerly placed the cup onto the top of the book and walked slowly into the living room. He sat down on the leather couch, courtesy of his brother, and cracked open the book. 

“Where are you going?!” said a muffled shout that came from the other side of the thin apartment wall.

“None of your business.”

“Look… I told yo-” 

The voice is cut off with a gasp and a dull thud.

“Don’t lie to me!” is the last thing Herz hears before his neighbor’s door bangs open and thundering footsteps pound down the hallway. Herz could hear faint sobs from the other side of the wall.

Dread fills him as he silently closes House of Leaves, and tip toes toward the door. He tenderly pulls the door open just a hair until he hears the familiar beep and chime of the elevator at the other end of the hall. He nervously glances around the hallway, void of anyone except the nervous teen. 

Herz lingered by his neighbor’s door for a moment before moving forward. The crying was accompanied by the sound of rushing water. So… someone was home. Herz knocks lightly on the oak door. The water shuts off almost immediately after. The door is torn open unceremoniously and a short boy with pink hair is holding a bloody tissue to his nose. His eyes were puffy and red after his tears.

“H-hey,” Herz stutters.

He pulls the bloody tissue away. “Hi? Can I help you?”

“I’m Herz Wolfram. I live next door actually.”

“Oh, I’m Jura Nostrov. Nice to meet you,” he says, holding out his free hand for a handshake.

Herz nervously accepts the hand. He shakes it lightly before quickly shoving his hand back into his pocket and willing his blush to go away.

“I heard you guys arguing. Is everything alright?”

“Y-yeah, it’s fine,” he shrugged. Between the bloody nose and the apparent bruise that was forming, it didn’t look like everything was “fine”.

Herz forces a smile onto his face. “Is your nose alright?”

“Oh yeah!” Jura laughs. “I practically forgot about that. It’s fine really, just walked into a wall. Slow morning- You know how it goes.” Jura smiled so widely, it seemed genuine, but Herz knew better. The smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Also, his nose was obviously broken. 

“My brother is a surgeon,” Herz offers. “I could come in and take a look at it if you’d like.”

“Oh, really? I guess you could help out, just… If he finds out you were here...” Jura mumbles, looking down.

Herz smiles sadly. “Oh it’s alright, I have a first aid kit at my apartment if you think that would be safer.”

“...Okay,” Jura says, and allows himself to be led into Herz’s apartment just next door. What was the worst that could happen? It’s not like he wanted to lie about Swen. He was just worried that somehow Swen would know another person was in the apartment. He had this weird sixth sense of jealousy thing going on.

The pink haired young man looked around the apartment. Everything was done in dark colors, which contrasted with the wide open windows. A forgotten cup of tea sat next to a book Jura had never heard of and he wondered if Herz had abandoned it to come to his aid. There was a dark stain just peeking out behind a picture of what appeared to be Herz and who Jura assumed was his family. 

Herz excused himself into the bathroom while Jura sat down on the plush leather couch. Just what the hell did this guy do for a living? His room was filled with expensive-looking items, but his attitude didn’t really match his lush living space. His thoughts were interrupted as Herz exited the bathroom with an ambulance-sized first aid kit.

“Tilt your head forward, please,” Herz asked politely, and Jura did as he was told. 

He was good at that.

Jura could feel the blood rushing out of his nose, and his hand instinctively reached up to catch it, but there was already another hand there. 

“Sorry,” Jura apologized, retracting his hand.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind. But it looks like your nose is broken.”

Jura’s eyes widened, “Do I need to go to the hospital or something?”

“Well, not necessarily. Does it hurt a lot?” Herz smiled.

“Not particularly,” Jura sighs, “I’m kinda used to it.”

“Wow. Does this happen that often?”

Jura sighs. “I guess you could say that. I should know better. I mean, he is very temperamental, and I guess it is my fault.”

“No,” Herz whispered.

Jura looked up, sadness dulling the light Herz had brought into his eyes, “What?”

“Oh! Nothing.” He forced a laugh. “I just need to break your nose back into place, and that might hurt a bit.”

“U-uh, I’ve never done that before. Does it hurt more than actually breaking your nose?”

“Can’t tell you,” Herz grinned, placing his fingers delicately on Jura’s face. He twisted it deftly, receiving a gasp of pain from Jura.

“Ow,” Jura whimpered, his eyes tearing up. “Thanks, but damn, that hurt.” His voice, no longer low and nasally, was high pitched and airy, only being accentuated by his whining. It was kind of cute.

“Yeah, I’m sure. My brother had to break a lot of my bones back into place growing up,” Herz sighed, starting to bandage Jura’s nose.

“How the hell does that happen?”

“I have two brothers, Hirn, the oldest, and my middle brother, Lunge. Lunge used to hit me with everything, doing whatever he could to make sure I was hurt. I’ve been hit by lamps, vacuums, and on the rare occasion, his car.”

“Did he seriously hit you with his car?” Jura leaned in, just inches from Herz’s face. Herz wasn’t used to so much kind human contact for so long.

“Well, yeah. The worst part is is that the random hit and runs weren’t even the worst of it. I still have some scars from when he stabbed me when I was nine.”

“You’ve been through so much. Are you sure you’re human?” Jura smiled.

Herz stopped, blinking. “What?”

“What? I mean, your eyes are different colors, and you survived being hit by a car multiple times...” Jura shrugged. “It was just a joke, you know, cause you’ve been through so much.”

“Oh, a joke. Yeah, right. I knew that,” Herz laughed nervously.

“Hey, I know I’m the one with the messed up face, but are you alright?” Jura kept getting closer and closer to Herz, not realizing that he was blushing immensely.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Herz said curtly, standing up. “I’m gonna go put this away.” He dragged the first aid kit back down the hall. 

“Oh, okay,” Jura called after him, surprised.

Herz stepped into the bathroom, almost closing the door behind him, his face bright red and his stomach full of butterflies.

Jura has been really nice so far. Herz can’t believe that someone as nice as Jura would be in a relationship with someone that abused him. He could do better than that stoic asshole.

Herz needed to stop. 

He dragged his hand down his face exasperatedly, trying to get these weird thoughts about a guy he just met out of his head. He had a boyfriend– Herz made a mental note that he could date him if he was single– and whether or not it was an abusive relationship, he was not about to ask him if he wanted to go on a date or something.

“Hey, Jura,” Herz mocked, practicing what he would say if the situation did arise. “I know you have an abusive boyfriend, but do you wanna go on a date? ...No, that’s stupid, come on Herz!” He continued to rub his hands over his face. “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” He took a deep breath. “Hey, Jura, I’m really sorry about your dick boyfriend. Want me to take you to a movie to make up for it?” He sighed. This was not going to work. I mean this guy just got his lights punched out, who would want to go to a movie afterwards?

“A movie sounds great, if you’re offering.”

Herz froze. He slowly turned around, his face red with embarrassment. Jura was standing in the doorway, blushing lightly. He was too damn cute to look at, so Herz looked down.

“I–”

“Don’t apologize,” Jura smiled, stepping closer to him, then proceeding to rest his hand on Herz’s shoulder. “I’d love to go to a movie with someone who doesn’t want to beat my face in. I need ten minutes to get ready though.”

“Wait, now?” Herz stuttered.

“Well, yeah, we gotta go before Swen gets back.”

“How do you know he won’t be back before us?”

“Trust me,” Jura sighed. “He goes out for drinks and doesn’t get back until at least one in the morning.”

“If you insist,” Herz smiled.

“Be right back,” Jura said, running off to his room. Herz sighed, leaning back against the counter. He realized that he also needed to get ready. His hair was a mess and he still had an old t-shirt on from sleeping. He decided not to put too much effort in. After all, it’s just a movie between new friends. Right?

Herz was just putting his beanie on when he was startled by a knock at the door. He took a few deep breaths before answering. Jura stood there in a hoodie and some worn jeans. Good, Herz thought. I had a feeling that I didn’t need to overdo it. 

“Ready?” Jura’s smile was so bright and friendly that Herz couldn’t help but smile, too.

“Ready.”

Jura swung his arm around Herz’s with no warning and they left to go to the movies.


	2. Movies and Mayhem

Herz sighed happily. He didn’t think he’d make any friends in his apartment complex, and he had almost begun to believe it after being there for three months with no neighborly interactions. But here he was, sitting with a short, pink-haired guy who seemed genuinely interested in hanging out with him.

They were currently watching a dumb action-comedy movie that made them laugh not only at the jokes, but also at the horrible special effects. Every once in a while, Herz would look over at Jura and blush, then look away when Jura noticed. 

This went on for every snide joke, bad pun, and terribly edited explosion, and for the first time in a long while, Herz allowed himself to relax around another person and have fun. He was really enjoying his time with Jura and when the credits rolled, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed. 

“Whew,” Jura stretched, his legs straightening out in his seat. “Well, that was better than I thought it would be.”

Herz rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. 

“Do you... wanna go get something to eat?” Herz asked.

Jura smiled, then nodded. “Sure.”

After they had grabbed something to eat, they sat down and talked. They talked about their hobbies– Jura loved to go out and make friends, while Herz preferred to stay at home and read– and what they liked. They sat there and talked for ages, even after they finished eating. Finally, Jura cut off the conversation and stood up.

“Hey, I have to use the restroom real fast. Could you wait a sec?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Herz responded, following Jura to the bathroom to wait outside the entrance.

Right after Jura disappeared from view, a collection of thug looking men walked towards Herz. They were punching each other playfully, and then one of them noticed Herz, standing by himself, defenseless. 

“Hey,” a gruff voice from the group shouted. “Whatcha doin’? Waitin’ for your prissy lil’ girlfriend?” They all laughed, patting the guy on the back. 

Herz smiled lightly. He had no idea what to do in this situation.

“Ya got any money, pretty boy?” another one piped up.

“No, I don’t,” Herz replied, nervousness overflowing in his voice. He was not ready to get attacked, although he’d probably just take it instead of defending himself. He was used to getting hurt, and it wasn’t worth it to actually fight these losers.

“Oh really? Why’re ya at the mall then, if ya can’t afford nothin’?”

“I-I just…” Herz couldn’t even speak. His feet were stuck to the floor and his arms were glued to his sides.

The huskiest of the group huffed out a laugh and flicked the shining blade of a pocket knife out of it’s casing. Herz noticed a mall employee skitter away in the corner of his eye. Well, there goes help.

“If you ain’t gonna give us your wallet, then we’ll just have to take it.” 

The deep rumble of laughter echoes throughout the abandoned hall. 

The blade swings and a sickening crack follows a flash of pink. 

Jura stands proud, rubbing his sore knuckles where they connected with the other man’s face. The knife clatters to the floor.

“Hello gentlemen,” Jura coos. “Wonderful afternoon we’re all having, I presume?” He laces his arm around the waist of the paralyzed Herz. “If you’ll excuse us, my associate and I will be leaving.”

“No fucking way!” someone calls in the crowd.

Jura releases Herz from his grasp and walks toward the group. “Alright then. Suit yourselves.” 

“Van?!” someone toward the back called. 

Herz was frozen in his spot. He knew what he should do, but he also knew that he was in a public place, and hurting humans is wrong and all of this was a terrible idea. Jura whipped through the collection of men that were three times his size with lightning fast speed. Every hit connected with a devastating thud, with Jura never letting any of the others get near him. Within minutes, the ones who were still conscious were carrying their beat-up friends back down the corridor.

A slow clap came from the end of the hallway. A tall broad-shouldered man with blue and blonde hair was leaning against the stone wall. He pushed himself off and began to walk toward them, still clapping ominously.

“Nice job, pipsqueak,” he called lightheartedly.

“Who are you? Are you with them?” Jura points over to his defeated foes, who were now running back towards the food court.

“Depends who’s asking. The name’s Van.”

“Wait a minute,” Jura pondered. “I know you!”

“…I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

“Yes you have,” Jura laughed. “You and I went to school together, back in Framlingham! Yeah, you were one of those assholes that went around bullying everybody.”

Realization dawned on Van’s face. “Oh yeah, you’re the bully patrol kid.”

“Yup!” Jura beamed, “Guess it’s true what they say– good habits never die.”

“Who’s he?” Van gestured to Herz. “I thought you were living with Swan or whatever.”

“First of all, his name is Swen,” Jura corrected. “And second, this is Herz. He’s my neighbor. We were just getting to know each other.”

Van turned to Herz and said, in a very serious tone, “Run. Run from him and swan face and never look back.”

Herz laughed awkwardly. He was still in a state of confusion after this whole situation. How did such a little guy manage to take care of a whole group of men? He needed to get his mind off this topic. “Um, I don’t mean to leave a bad impression, but is your name actually Van?” Herz asked, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. 

“Ugh, here we go again…” Van sighed.

“Wait!” Jura exclaimed. “Isn’t your actual name… Vanilla? Or something like that?” Jura laughed mockingly.

“Yes,” Vanilla grumbled, looking to the side. 

“We should all get together and do something,” exclaimed Jura. “I need to get to know Vanilla again and this is a perfect opportunity for you both to get to know each other.”

Vanilla shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t got anything better to do.”

“Great!” Jura laughed. “We’ll keep in touch.” The shortest of the trio collides into Herz’s side once more, and begins to drag him away. “Bye Vanilla!” he sang cheerily.

“He seems nice?” Herz smiled, unsure.

“He wasn’t in high school, but I’m glad he wants to hang out. I’m tired.”

“You wanna head back?”

“Yeah,” Jura smiled, “Thanks for this by the way.”

“It’s no problem.”

 

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	3. The Monster Inside

The pair stood adjacent in the brightly lit elevator. If Herz listened closely, he could have sworn that the Mii Lobby music was playing.

 

Jura laughed, “I’m not kidding Herz. Look up ‘Big Buff Cheeto Puff’ in Google images and I swear on my life that pictures of Jasper from Steven Universe will come up.”

 

“Where the fuck have you been?”

 

Jura and Herz turned towards the hallway. Swen, clutching angrily onto the car keys in hand, strided toward the pair.

 

“I have been looking everywhere for you! Who the fuck is this?”

 

Herz clicked his jaw. This is the abusive guy who beat up his friend. This is the guy that made Jura cry. This is the guy that’s keeping Herz from dating Jura.

 

“I’m Herz. I live next door to you,” he said calmly, hoping the tension would simmer down and that Jura wouldn’t get into even more trouble or pain.

 

“Whatever,” Swen wrapped a hand around Jura’s arm. “Come on babe. Let’s go.”

 

He pulled roughly, causing a gasp of pain from Jura as he dragged him inside their apartment.

 

Herz winced. This was all his fault. He quickly ran into his apartment and pressed his ear against the wall that divided him from his neighbors. If Swen hurt one more hair on Jura’s head, Herz was gonna flip his shit.

 

_“I know that you are fucking that guy.”_

_“Swen, I swear. He’s just a friend. We only just met today, and-”_

_“You’re fucking lying! Do you think I’m an idiot? How long have you been taking his dick, Jura?”_

 

_“Swen I swear! I love you and only you.”_

_“Bullshit.”_

_“Swen, look at me. I’m not kidding! I love you. He’s just some friendly neighbor. I don’t even care about him.”_

_Herz winced but kept listening. He was just defending himself, right?_

_“Liar!”_

 

The force at which Jura collided with the wall not only knocked down a few pictures, but launched Herz from his spot against it. He bolted through the door, and the minute his foot went through his neighbors’, he felt the skin splitting beneath his jacket.

 

“Get off of him,” growled Herz, trying to force the transformation to stop.

 

“What are you gonna do about it?”

 

Swen threw Jura into the wall again and dived for the intruder. His fist collided with Herz’s face, the rings on his hands splitting the skin.

 

Herz spit out the mouthful of blood and stood up again, only to earn a knee to the stomach and a hard kick to his side once he was down. Jura attempted to jump between them. He needed Swen to stop, or Herz was going to get severely hurt. It didn’t matter how many times he’d been hurt before, Jura didn’t want to be the cause of anymore pain to him.

 

“Swen!” Jura jumped between them, “Sto-”

 

He swung for Jura.

 

Swen ripped his arm out of the grip of the slick black tendrils pouring from Herz’s face. There was no way Herz was going to allow Jura to be hurt again. Not when he could so easily do something about it.

 

“What the fuck?!” Swen bellowed.

 

Herz allowed the skin to split apart, his hands turning to black claws as he ripped his opponent up by the wrist and threw him down the hall and into the far wall. The flood of guilt that followed almost brought him to his knees.

 

He looked at Jura. The bandage that was wrapped around his nose had been discarded on the floor behind the terrified looking young man.

 

This was wrong.

 

“Take him to the hospital,” Herz whispered in the direction of Jura.

 

He couldn’t look at him. The shame that overtook his form made him want to die. How could he be so reckless, and beyond that, how could he have hurt a human? No matter the reason, violence was not the answer. Even for humans like Swen. Herz felt more like a monster than he ever had. He spared one more passing glance at the frozen Jura and wandered out of the room.

 

Herz was plagued with the same violent malevolence that consumed him years ago.

 

The emotional pain of knowing he lost his only friend was so numb that he wasn’t convinced if this was a dream.

 

He wandered through the kitchen until he got to the knife holder. Herz remembered how he got this pain to go away. He removed the largest from spot, and trudged toward the bathroom.

 

He placed the knife on the edge of the marble tub and turned the water on the hottest it would go. Herz stripped, slow and steady.

 

Why did he react like that?

 

He would never intentionally harm a human.

 

It was bad.

 

It was wrong.

 

Herz shut off the tap and climbed into the steaming tub, the burn of the water kissing his pale skin bright red. His form had returned to normal, his hands back to their human shape and his skin whole once more.

 

Not for long.

 

He slipped down into the burning water until he was underneath. He couldn’t feel the burn, but he knew it was there. He sat up once again. The airy sounds of foot steps slipped through the hall beyond his apartment.

 

Jura.

 

Herz’s hand found the knife in an instant. He dragged the back of the blade down his bright red wrist, and he smirked to himself a bit.

 

It’d been awhile since he had done this.

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

Herz rammed the blade through his left wrist. The water dyed deep red when his blood flowed from his wrists in huge red rivulets. The stench of iron filled his lungs until he smelled nothing else.

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

He ripped the knife out of his wrist and forced it back in once again.

 

And again.

 

And again.

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

Herz switched hands and plunges the knife into his right forearm.

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

_“I don’t even care about him.”_

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

He stayed in the bath until the red water turned cold.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a huge shout out to the creator of the comic, Marija, who has been a great inspiration and help to us! Thank you so much!


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